Well, the title says it all. The Formula made the trip from Gainesville, FL to Pomona, CA and back without any real problems (a few no-starts on the way was traced to a bad pass-key), and the car ran kinda slow, but consistent until the last pass. 4 time runs and elimination rounds over 2 days varied by a total of 8 thousandths of a second on the 1000 foot clocks!! (I was lifting on both 1st and 2nd round races). My buddy Jason thinks the car didn't run good until the last pass b/c it was only used for highway driving until the 6 full throttle blasts, and then the computer started making changes. Probably should have disconnected the battery and let the car reset. Unfortunately I choked on the tree in the final and gave the race away via a .123 light after a .029 the round before. AND, there was no runner-up purse! I did get about $400 in contingencies, and they pay us $3500 to tow out to race, which I spent probably $2000-2500 of, and I was not even trailering a car! The 'ol bird impressed me though, knocking down about 24-25 mpg at 75-80 steady cruise, and never got worse than 23 mpg the entire trip! I was also the ONLY guy to drive his car in, everyone else trailered their ride, even the sportsman guys! The staging directors kept thinking I was racing the slower class (Sportsman is 13.00 and slower). Instead, I got chased by a 10.08 malibu in the 1st round, an 11.40s Nova in the 2nd round, and a 10.20s Nova in the finals. So I was definately the slowest car there! Just goes to show you can win with any car in bracket racing! Tony's LS1Tech decals arrived Saturday, and they were on the car for the duration of the event! Thanks George for calling before the finals and the good luck wishes, hope you had fun at the shootout. Now, do I go with number 21 (Division 2, number 1) or number 2 for next year??

Derek

 

Congrtas. Keep up the good work next season

 

Derek,

Man you ROCK! My hat goes off to ya.

I talked to George in the staging lanes at the Shootout an asked how you were doing. He said he would wish ya good luck for me. Iam very proud of ya man.

Going to the finals at Pomona is a dream come true.

Now go win some money at all those big dollar bracket race in Florida this winter!


Coach

 

you are a true dedicated racer congrats

 

Congrats. Good that you made a little cash but it really sucks that 2nd didn't payout.

 

Glad you made it back OK Derek, and again, big congrats on the accomplishment of even going to Pomona!!

You've inspired me to keep my competition number and race for points next year @ Gainesville.

Again, awesome job!!!!

BTW, MA is out of town, so I may head down that way this weekend...

 

Coach,
I'm taking a much needed break after racing for 12+ straight weeks and the only week off I spent driving to Pomona! I also just got the Nova back from getting a roll bar installed so I'm going to be busy with that getting it painted, and the interior going back together. Hopefully everything will be back in place for January and some negative DA runs! I'm also needing to clean up the bird after all the time on the road, and all my household crap is waiting for me for get done. Maybe I'll run friday night street legal one last time before the season ends.

George, I can't wait to see the elephant run in street sportsman next year! Tell Jon he'll have some competition from the Catfish!